the u.s. military, pushing for upwards of 15,000 troops, and the obama administration, which will likely look to leave just a few thousand. the president said he will make these two decisions in the coming months. >> a reminder of the top stories on on jazeera. opposition fighters in syria have taken control of the top air base, the largest military air base in northern syria. u.s. and russian diplomats met again to discuss the violence but failed offer a solution. control of has taken a strategic town. france launched an air strike to back up mali's military. the central african republic's government has signed a cease- fire agreement with an alliance of rebel groups. in national unity government will be formed under the terms of the deal. taking a bible to her venezuelan counterpart, hugo chÁvez, undergoing cancer treatment in cuba. lending to a sport -- lending support to the man who stood by her when no one else would. >> she tweeted earlier today about bringing a bible. she said she would hopefully meet with family members. she did not make a clear statement that she would meet wit

. the obama administration is getting closer to deciding what to do to curb gun violence in the u.s. joe biden is meeting with leaders of the pro-gun lobby. >> images of 6-year-old kid is riddled, not just shocked, riddled with bullet holes. but startling imagery by joe biden as he meets the group said offend gun ownership. the same time, the sound of gunfire echoed from another classroom. a 16-year-old shot and injured in california. another student in custody after a teacher convinced him to put down his gun. >> he had as many as 20 rounds of shotgun in his pocket, so we do not know what might have happened. this is a tragedy but not as bad as we think it might have been. >> that did not change the outcome of this picture of the meeting with the national rifle association. it called the meeting disappointing and plans to take the case to capitol hill, where it has many allies, even though when it comes to giving campaign contributions, the nra is far from the biggest spender, paying about $19 million in the last election. it did not get much for its money. the nra has less than 1% success ra

because liberals did not think he had done enough to dissociate himself from the bush administration interrogation policies. now this nomination and not of chuck hagel are going to raise new questions of the direction in which president obama wants to take the nation on national security. >> chuck hagel is sure to face opposition in his bid to become the new secretary of defense. >> at the end of the day, after an appropriate amount of questioning, and with the appropriate answers, he will be voted out by the committee and voted for the job by the united states senate. >> tell us a bit more about what goes to war against him, why they're against it. >> -- what those who are against them, why they are against him. >> some have caused him to have to apologize for the statements. he has been insensitive to the gay lesbian and transvestite community with a comment he made about a proposed selection a few years ago. of course, there are some who believe he is not strong enough behind the state of israel in terms of protecting its from iran. >> is a likely to do anything different to bring

did not think that he had done enough to dissociate himself from the bush administration interrogation policies. now his nomination and that of chuck hagel are going to raise new questions about the direction in which president obama wants to take the nation on national security. >> chuck hagel spent much of the last 24 hours defending himself against allegations that he is anti-israel, but there's a lot of opposition. there's a web site that says it has all the reasons why he's not fit for the job. he is also seen as anti-is really after making this comment at an interview seven years ago. he said "and the jewish lobby intimidates a lot of people. i don't want to go over the dumping as they have done. i support israel. but my allegiance is not true president or party or to israel." the u.s. considers hamas a terrorist organization and will not engage directly with the group, although chuck hagel supports talks. our guest has joined us now. he's calling for more pragmatic approach in dealing with hamas. >> i think you have to put this into the context of the upcoming elections in israe

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